Let’s Do it Together

Subaru hadn't made a Door Crossing in a while, but nothing about the sensation was strong enough to stir any nostalgia. This transfer through doors had never given much sense of crossing any distance in the first place. It was the same as walking in and out of an ordinary room: your stride simply stepped over the seam where two spaces met. So the breath that slipped from Subaru's lips just then had nothing to do with feelings about the Door Crossing. It was his reaction to the room he'd been let into.

"This is... exactly the kind of weird room a witch would love."

It was a strangely built room, with windows running all the way around its walls. It was spacious, and probably sat at the very top of the castle. The blue sky spreading beyond the windows and the white clouds drifting along beneath it gave him a rough idea of where he was. The view outside wasn't the alien space of endless falling that was still fresh in Subaru's memory, but the sky of the real world itself. That alone was proof that Tiga hadn't been lying.

"The floating castle Kugelschreiber, huh... Once you get your hands on a flying vehicle, it really starts to feel like the endgame of an RPG. Don't you think?"

"No idea what you're talking about, but it sounds pointless. More importantly, look."

"—Subaru!"

Ferris brushed off Subaru's wonder and pointed straight ahead, and from the far end of the room came Beatrice, pattering toward him with the hem of her dress swirling. With Crusch on his back, Subaru caught her against his chest as she leapt at him head-on. He managed to keep his footing, and was relieved to see that she looked unhurt.

"Beako, I'm glad you're okay. That's a weight off my mind."

"That's Betty's line, I suppose! Getting split up like that, and then you went running off ignoring Betty's voice, so Betty was worried sick, in fact!"

"That's not my fault, that's on whatever dirty trick the enemy pulled... Anyway, we all made it out okay on our end, somehow. Anything unusual happen on your side... yeah, obviously it did."

"I suppose. —Betty moved the castle, in fact."

Beatrice nodded, hands on her hips, wearing a smug look. Her pride was adorable, but as far as Subaru could see, there was no obvious link between what had just happened and moving the castle. So, for all the romance of a flying castle, he had plenty of questions about the decision—

"Moving the castle was my decision, made after consulting the Librarian. The entrance we had been using may have been seized by the enemy, with an ambush lying in wait."

It was Russell, standing at the center of the room, who answered Subaru's question in Beatrice's place. In the middle of the spacious room stood a round table large enough for several adults to gather around, and above it floated a strange black sphere, over which Russell held his hand. It looked like some sort of fantasy device, and apparently he couldn't step away from it, so Subaru and the others went over to him instead.

"This thing carved into the table... is it a map of the world?"

"Yes, more or less. Though since it was engraved some time ago, it differs from the present world map in a good many places. Not enough to be much of an inconvenience, however."

Leaning over the round table, Subaru saw a map of the world carved into its surface in raised and sunken relief. Just as Russell had said, it seemed to depict an older era than the present one. Given the history of Kugelschreiber Castle, the map was probably more than four hundred years old. The urge to fetch a modern map and compare the two came bubbling up, but

"Let's save that for later... Mr. Russell, what was that about an ambush?"

"Silver Fox, please. —It is a natural inference. A transfer route whose value has fallen sharply even by my own estimation, and 'Beloved Children' already inside the castle... It would be irrational to assume the enemy few in number."

"Most likely some bastard got greedy for glory and tried to jump the gun, right? Every outfit's got somebody who can't keep in step. And that 'Beloved Children' lot don't look like they've got a lick of loyalty to each other, any of 'em."

As he followed up on Russell's answer, Rachins glanced sidelong at Melty and Black Dog beside him. Former "Beloved Children" they might be, but Subaru wanted to defend the pair against so unfair a judgment. Melty aside, though, it was hard to argue that Black Dog's sense of camaraderie wasn't on the weak side.

"Even so, the bond we've built over these two months is what let us drive off the enemy. Right, Black Dog?"

"Bo~nd? Oi oi, don't say something so gross and nauseating! By pure fluke, sheer coincidence, a total miracle! We just happen to hate the same people, that's all we are, ri~ght~?"

"See? We get along great, just like this. There's no shortage of people you can't get through to, after all."

Black Dog flashed him a double thumbs-down, and Subaru shrugged. Rachins looked like he had objections to Subaru's take, but perhaps seeing no point in arguing it, he closed the matter himself with a "Whatever," and went on.

"Anyway, we moved around to dodge the ambush and met up with the Librarian. She wanted to go look for you lot, but..."

"We explained the situation and discussed alternatives. We concluded that if their ambush were thrown into disarray, the enemy would have no choice but to change their approach—"

"So Betty moved Mother's castle, I suppose."

With the reasoning of the group that had been split off from him laid out, Subaru finally understood. All that remained was how they had moved the castle to carry out that plan—

"That black ball Silver Fox has had his hand over this whole time has something to do with it?"

"Yes. The finer principles are unknown, but the castle moves in accordance with the will of its operator. Though without the Librarian, I doubt we would ever have found how to activate it."

"Gotcha. Good job, good job. You saved all our lives."

"Naturally, in fact. ...But not being by your side had Betty on edge, I suppose."

Beatrice pinched the hem of Subaru's clothes and let the corners of her eyes droop, and it was heartbreakingly sweet. Even if she had accepted the plan as the way out of their situation, putting off running to Subaru after they'd been separated must have taken a great deal of courage on her part. He was glad he hadn't let that brave decision go to waste.

"Um, I understand what happened. But is it really all right to make a castle fly? Won't it stand out too much? Won't we be chased the whole time...?"

"Naturally, we have already discussed that point. Librarian, this castle has—"

"—a Perception Inhibition effect on it, in fact. It's not as if we'll be parading flashily across the sky the whole time, I suppose. Still, someone with sharp instincts, or anyone who's been up to the castle before, might see through the effect, so it doesn't do to rely on it too much, in fact."

"However, becoming the subject of rumour is not entirely to our disadvantage. The enemy is not the only party we wish to make aware of our existence."

"You mean..."

When Subaru's eyes widened at Russell's words, the man answered him with a quiet nod. —The ones they wanted to draw with a conspicuous castle could only be the allies they currently had no way of reaching. Apart from Emilia and the others, whose whereabouts were known, Rem, Otto and the rest who had vanished, as well as Roswaal and his group who had gone into hiding ahead of time, were all out of contact. Travelling with the "Six Tongues," Subaru and the others had no means of getting in touch with their scattered companions. But if word of the floating castle spread, then for better or worse, it would be easier for things to start moving.

"Someone like Roswaal can fly up here on his own, so he might just hop right on board."

"Frankly, I cannot deny that I am counting on it. We are maintaining considerable altitude, but Roswaal should be able to reach us without freezing."

"Besides, for Roswaal, a little freezing would be good medicine, I suppose."

"Ooh, brutal. But deserved."

Roswaal was getting torn to shreds by Russell and Beatrice, the two people with the deepest ties to him, but there was no denying he'd brought it on himself, so Subaru offered no defence. In any case, how the castle had come to fly, and the worries about flying it, had more or less been dealt with. All that was left—

"If we've got a bit of time now, I'd like to explain what happened on our end, and... Beako, is there a room where Crusch can rest?"

"There should be a guest room that hasn't been ransacked, in fact. Betty will show you the way, I suppose."

"Roger. Then since Ferris will probably want to stay with us, can I leave the report to Mel... to 'White Sheep' and Black Dog? Once that's done—"

"Yes, leave the report to me. —And after that, let's talk."

Placing a hand on her chest, Melty nodded deeply, quietly, her face full of hidden resolve. Dwelling in her round eyes, in stark contrast to her lovely, delicate features, was a will so strong and so sharp, so unbreakable, that it called a diamond to mind—

"—about what I'm fighting for."

△▼△▼△▼△

"—There's a place called Faradar. That's where I'm from... a remote frontier land where the Evil Eye Tribe has lived for generations."

Melty began her story in a deliberately even voice. This was after they had tidied up the least-wrecked guest room in the castle and laid Crusch down there to rest. Leaving the sleeping woman in Ferris's care, Subaru and the others had set up in the second-least-wrecked guest room for their talk, and there they heard the story Melty had promised them. The precious secret shared between her and Black Dog—and Tiga and Pooka.

"The Evil Eye Tribe, huh. Seems like there were a few of them scattered around Vollachia. Demi-humans who can use special powers kind of like Divine Protections, right? You too, Melty?"

"Yes, that's right. Faradar was a settlement on the frontier of the Vollakia Empire too, and I'm one of the Evil Eye Tribe... I told you about the power of my Evil Eye, didn't I, Subaru?"

"Yeah. 'Charmer,' the one that makes anyone you touch take a liking to you, right?"

Melty gave a small, serious nod at Subaru's confirmation. "Charmer"... on paper the name alone didn't sound like such a serious power, but during their time working with the "Six Tongues," Subaru had watched Russell rely on it again and again. She had been chosen as one of the "Beloved Children," after all. It had to be every bit that effective. As if to back that up, Beatrice, holding Subaru's hand, murmured, "'Charmer'..."

"Betty has heard of it, in fact. Among the Evil Eye Tribe, who were created in pursuit of reproducing the Witches' Authorities, it was the 'Evil Eye of Calamity' that came closest to that goal... or so it should be, I suppose."

"You spend all your time being pretty at my side, and then every so often you just casually drop a bombshell. Reproducing the Witches' Authorities, what now?"

"It's a story from the era of the Witch War, so it's not as if Betty knows it firsthand, in fact. But back then Witches were springing up all over the place, and that was one of the measures taken against them, I suppose. If you want to know, Betty will tell you some other time, so for now, focus on 'White Sheep'... on Melty's story, in fact."

"Dammit, that's a promise...! Melty, sorry for derailing you. Go on."

"Okay. But it's just like the Librarian said. That's what my power was called. It was an effect that hadn't appeared in our clan for hundreds of years, a long-cherished wish, they said... I do know it's a frightening power, that much. Not that knowing was enough."

Before Subaru and Beatrice, Melty let her brows droop and laid a hand on her chest. It hadn't been enough, she had said, with heavy self-reproach and regret, and now she let out a small sigh.

"When I was little, I never gave my power a thought, and because of that I caused fights and... it was awful. I regretted it so much... but the real regret came right after."

"Regret... don't tell me, getting noticed by Capella?"

"That too... But that isn't my biggest regret."

"—"

"...It's Tiga."

After a beat of hesitation, Melty cut to the heart of the matter. Tiga Rauleon—a member of the Church of the Divine Dragon, Subaru's My Friend, someone on his wavelength he could actually talk to, and the man said to be the "Executor" siding with their enemies, the "Beloved Children." And the uncommon bond between that Tiga and Melty was—

"It was when he and I were both children. A troupe of traveling performers came to Faradar. Tiga was one of them... I couldn't control my 'Charmer' power well, and people kept away from me, and I happened to meet Tiga. And then..."

"...And then?"

"—With my 'Charmer' power, I wished for him to stay by my side. I wished for it."

Clutching the front of her clothes, Melty said it like a confession of sin. She had been a small child, she repeated. Born with a tremendous power, she had known nothing of how to hold it back or how to use it properly. A mistake brought on by all that: Melty could never be selfish enough to excuse herself that way.

"Tiga left the troupe that was his family and stayed behind in Faradar. I was just innocently happy about it... and I dragged Tiga into this hell."

"Hell, I suppose. Which is to say, the 'Beloved Children' of the Sin Archbishop of 'Lust,' in fact."

"—Yes. When Mama found me and took me away, to stay with me... to grant my 'pretty please,' I don't know what terms Tiga offered. But how he sold off his life piece by piece to win Mama's favor..."

Her already fair skin turning ashen, Melty's voice trembled weakly at the end. The regret and shame churning in her chest reached Subaru, raw and unmistakable. Subaru, too, would be wracked with regret if his own mistake dragged someone precious to him—Emilia or Rem, Garfiel or Petra and the others—down with him into a hell with no way out.

"Betty and Otto weren't on that list, I suppose."

"Well, you and Otto already signed off on getting dragged into hell with me..."

"Good to see you understand, in fact. Though as for being lumped in with Otto, Betty will have a word with Otto about it once we regroup, I suppose."

Apparently some such resolution had been reached inside Beatrice. After they regrouped, Otto, having had a word from Beatrice, would probably have a word with Subaru, but, well, never mind that. In any case, he understood the guilt Melty carried toward Tiga, and the bond between them. He understood, and yet there was something he didn't.

"I get that your bond with Tiga runs that deep. But the way he acted when we ran into him under the castle was the exact opposite of all that. That was..."

"—He doesn't remember. Me."

"—"

"Tiga forgot me. ...No, not only Tiga. Mama, the "Beloved Children," everyone in the world forgot me. —That's the reason I was able to leave the "Beloved Children" the way I did."

At Melty's answer, Beatrice's grip on Subaru's hand tightened slightly. He caught her meaning and nodded to show he understood. Truthfully, even before hearing this story, he'd suspected as much. Given the relationship Melty had described with Tiga, the length and depth of that bond, there seemed to be no other way the two of them could be treating each other like they were now. But if that was the case—

"Those Gluttony bastards! Giving my relationship with my Rem a compound fracture wasn't enough, they had to go smear muck on Melty's pure love too...!"

"It isn't only you and Rem. Julius, the people of Priestella... once you start counting everyone affected, there's no end to it, I suppose."

"And in the end, we still don't know who killed Roy while he was locked up, either. All they ever do is scatter mysteries everywhere. Melty getting out of the "Beloved Children" doesn't come close to paying that debt off."

Besides, Capella, who had made Melty suffer, was a Sin Archbishop herself, so it was little more than one Sin Archbishop starting a fire and another putting it out. There was no credit to be given here at all. But while Subaru seethed over this, Melty's cheeks turned faintly pink.

"U-um, calling it pure love is a bit..."

"Huh? It isn't? But that exchange with Tiga just now was totally..."

He thought back to the clash between Melty and Tiga when they'd run into each other underground. The way she'd gazed at Tiga when he appeared, the way she'd planted herself in his path when he tried to flee, and the voice that had sadly failed to reach his retreating back: all of it was the work of deep affection. When Subaru put that to her, Melty groaned "Auau..." for a while.

"N-no comment, please... Besides, someone like me..."

"...Look, call it meddling, but I think it's better if I say this, so I'm gonna say it. If you're thinking you don't have the right to love anyone, or 'who am I to say Tiga matters to me,' or anything like that, you're overthinking it, so you can stop."

"H-how did you know!? Subaru, are you an esper...!?"

"Not to toot my own horn, but good old Subaru is pretty sharp when it's someone else's business."

"You really shouldn't be the one tooting it, in fact..."

Brushing off Beatrice's jab from beside him, Subaru cleared his throat with an "Ahem" in front of the wide-eyed Melty. When it came to matters between men and women, there wasn't much advice Subaru could offer anyone, but even so, a pointless inner struggle that plain to see had to be cut off at the root.

"I happen to have deep expertise when it comes to girls who think they don't deserve to be loved. After all, Emilia-tan, Rem, and Beako were all like that. ...Beako might be kind of a variant, though? I'd better say it just to be safe. Beako, I love you."

"Betty loves you too, I suppose. You don't need to say it right now, in fact."

"Taking courage from my understanding Beako, I'll go on... Agonising over whether you deserve to be loved or not is pointless. Everybody deserves to be loved. The only exception is the Sin Archbishops."

"Subaru..."

"Like I said before, you can't win me over. So if I think you've got great visuals, or that your voice is cute, that's got nothing to do with "Charmer.""

"A-are you really sure? You're not charmed!?"

"Not charmed, not charmed. Great visuals, could stare at them forever: I think that about Ferris too. I'm not gonna say it, though, since I'm pretty sure he'd make a seriously disgusted face. Beako, you're super cute too. I could look at you for all eternity."

"That's the work of Betty's own allure, I suppose. "Charmer" has nothing to do with it, in fact."

Melty looked back and forth between Subaru, nodding, and Beatrice, puffing out her chest adorably, blinked several times, and then let out a sigh. It seemed to release something heavy that had been weighing on her chest until a moment before.

"You two are amazing..."

"Well, we're fated partners who've made it through some pretty serious trials."

"I suppose. We're battle-hardened veterans, in fact."

The hurdles they'd cleared were on another level, in height and in number, and Subaru and Beatrice carried themselves accordingly. Of course, none of that made the hardships and anguish Melty had gone through any lighter, nor did it make light of them. Whether it was even any comfort was hard to say. Even so, a faint smile came to Melty's lips.

"I'll make sure to remember. —That maybe I deserve to be loved too."

It was the answer of a girl who still didn't have quite enough confidence. But giving her confidence in the true sense surely wasn't Subaru's job. The man who had to take on that role was in the enemy camp right now. Even so, while he now understood that Melty and Tiga shared a complicated past, one so solid there was no gap to slip anything into—

"So in that case, what's the deal between you and Black Dog, Melty? Black Dog's supposed to have some connection to that spirit Pooka too, so while we're at it, mind if I dig into that?"

Seizing the moment now that Melty had finished her account of the "Charmer" power, Subaru stepped into territory he'd been vaguely curious about all along but, reading the room, had never asked about.

—Black Dog, who had left the "Beloved Children" together with Melty and joined up with the "Six Tongues." For all the snide remarks he threw around, it was plain to see he looked out for her. His foul mouth was aimed at everyone, after all, so the special treatment Melty got, glimpsed in the moments when it wasn't, went without saying. But once Tiga entered the picture, things got rather complicated.

"Between My Friend Tiga and my current ally Black Dog, I don't know whose side I'm supposed to be on. Melty, are you some kind of sinful woman?"

"S-sinful?! I knew it, I don't deserve to be loved after all...!"

"He's only joking, I suppose. Don't take it to heart, in fact. And Subaru, quit troubling Melty, I suppose. That's naughty, in fact."

His needless remark earned him a stern scolding from Beatrice. Melty, however, took a deep breath and, lowering her eyes, began with an "Um,"

"...The truth is, I really don't know what Black Dog and I are to each other."

"Meaning... you've forgotten Black Dog?"

"That too, but... Black Dog doesn't seem to know anything about himself either. All he knows about him and me is, um, that we've been together from the start."

"Huh... So it's not that Black Dog's keeping quiet about what he is to you?"

"I-I don't think so. I don't think he's that crafty a person..."

It wasn't an answer born of certainty; a good deal of wanting to believe was mixed into it. Still, Subaru agreed with her. Black Dog wasn't cut out for subterfuge. But taking all of that as given, something unnatural came to the surface.

"Forgotten by everyone around him, and he's forgotten himself too... That's..."

"That matches the result of having both Name and Memories devoured by Gluttony's Authority, I suppose. But if both had been eaten, it would be impossible, in fact."

"Yeah... He'd have to have ended up like Rem in her 'Sleeping Beauty' state."

If Melty's testimony was to be believed, Black Dog should have been in the same position as Rem, attacked by Gluttony and left asleep for so long—the same as the people still lying unwoken in Priestella. And yet Black Dog hadn't fallen into a coma; he was walking around of his own will. Were they really, this late in the game, about to discover a new kind of victim of Gluttony's Authority?

"But if that's the case, then the thing between Black Dog and Pooka makes sense too. Basically, those two were contracted all along, but neither of them remembers it. That's why they keep missing each other... Same deal as how Julius's contracts with Ia and the others never came undone, right?"

"That makes the most sense, I suppose... But if so, it's pitiful, in fact."

"Pitiful..."

"For a spirit that has chosen someone, nothing is harder than being forgotten by its contractor, I suppose."

"Gwaaah! A sharp pain just crept up on me nice and slow...! Beako, I'm sorry!!"

Subaru scooped up Beatrice as she slowly shook her head and frantically rubbed his cheek against hers. It might have felt short from Beatrice's side, but it was still a fact that for a while, with his Memories eaten, Subaru had forgotten his contract with her. Yet precisely because he understood that pain, he could look at things differently too.

"So how do Tiga and Pooka see things right now? Tiga joined the "Beloved Children" in the first place for your sake, because you were there, right? But you're not there anymore. His reason's been left hanging."

"...I don't know. Only, Pooka was searching for its contractor... for Black Dog, apparently. So I thought, maybe Tiga too... That's what I'd been thinking, but..."

"Melty..."

With a weak, rueful smile, Melty gave voice to the fragile hope that hadn't come true. A reunion with Tiga, from whom she had been parted in a way she never wanted: she had pinned a one-in-a-million hope on it. But sadly, that wish had gone unanswered. That was the whole story of how they'd passed each other by in the castle's underground.

"...What do you want to do, Melty?"

Having taken in what she carried, chewed it over and understood it, Subaru put the question to her. Melty had left the "Beloved Children," joined the "Six Tongues" and set her mind on crushing Capella's schemes, and of course part of that was keeping herself safe, and part was the sense of duty of someone who knew the plan. But now that he knew her story, Subaru thought there had to be more to it than that. —No, it wasn't that he thought so. He wanted there to be more than that.

Natsuki Subaru already liked Melty Pristis. And Natsuki Subaru, whose heart had room for a great many people, lived by a simple rule: he wanted the people he liked to be as greedy as they could, and to be happy. So—

"If there's something you want to do, Melty, I'll help with anything."

"—. Are you really not charmed by me, Subaru?"

"Nope! I've got way too many number ones in my heart already...!"

"Subaru always means it, in fact. ...That's what makes him such a handful, and that's why you shouldn't carry so much on your own shoulders either, I suppose."

Still held up in his arms for the cheek-rubbing, Beatrice murmured this with a sigh. Melty caught her breath at the words and let slip a soft "Librarian..." Beatrice shrugged.

"Not Librarian. Beatrice is fine, in fact. And Betty will call you Melty instead of White Sheep, I suppose."

"Oh... I think I might be the one getting charmed by you two."

"Well, that just means Beako's cuteness is Evil Eye–level."

"Then Subaru's nasty glare is Evil Eye–level too, in fact."

"That's not a compliment, is it?! You're just saying I've got eyes like a demon, aren't you?!"

"Ahaha."

At the compliments missing each other, Melty put a hand to her mouth and laughed in spite of herself. She let the laughter carry her for a while, and then at last she let out a long breath.

"—Subaru. Beatrice."

"Yeah?" "What is it?"

Melty folded her hands in front of her stomach and straightened her back, and they faced her. They could feel the resolve in her round eyes, keenly, and they waited for her words. Some things come across without being said. Even so, the important things ought to be said out loud.

The same way you tell someone precious that you love them, whatever you've resolved to see through no matter what has to be declared to the world. So—

"—There's a life I have to take back, whatever it takes. And in that life, there's someone I want beside me. Please lend me your strength, so I can get that person back."

"Yeah, you got it. Let's do it together. Come on, Fate—" "—bring it on, in fact."

Subaru and Beatrice thrust out their fists, and Melty's eyes went wide. Then she nodded with fresh determination on her face and touched both her hands lightly to their fists.

—It was a modest gesture, but it was Melty Pristis declaring her resolve, and that resolve would not waver.